Tag: South

NEW YORK - It's sprinkled with jokes about Mormons discriminating against black people and repressed gay longings, but the creators of a new musical about Mormons say it won't attract the sort of religious controversy they are famous for. One of the most anticipated musicals this Broadway season, "The Book of Mormon," satirizes the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, sexualizes the ritual of baptism and has plenty of politically incorrect jokes.
But

HONG KONG - South Korea's finest celebrated after they blitzed the annual Asian Film Awards on Monday, bolstering the country's growing reputation as the pre-eminent force in the region. South Korean movie stars and filmmakers dominated the glitzy ceremony in Hong Kong, now in its fifth year, snapping up awards for best director, best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actress and best editing. Lee Chang-Dong clinched best director for the feature film 'Poetry,' which also won

MUMBAI - New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes he will be fit to face South Africa in the World Cup quarter-finals after missing two matches with a knee injury. Vettori was sidelined for the win over Canada and defeat against Sri Lanka after hurting his knee while fielding against Pakistan in Pallekele nearly two weeks ago.
"I should be all right to get through the batting and bowling, it is just the running around that is hampering me a little bit," said Vettori. "But I

OSAKA - A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture south of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake shook buildings in Tokyo, but no damage was immediately reported, public broadcaster NHK said, adding that flights at the capital's Narita Airport were briefly suspended for safety checks before resuming. The USGS said the quake struck at 6.56 pm (0956 GMT) and was centred 98

DHAKA - Bangladesh's slender hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup they are co-hosting were crushed mercilessly by South Africa on Saturday with a 206-run Group B defeat. The result means South Africa will top the group and should have the easiest -- on paper -- draw of the qualifiers in the last eight against the fourth-placed Group A side.
It also ensured that India, England and the West Indies will progress to the knockout stage although the order in which they

LAHORE - PILDAT's mock discussion on the provincial status of South Punjab remained deadlocked between the Punjab chief minister's task force and the proponents of a provincial status for the region.
In an exercise to resolve the conflict and devise negotiation strategies for members of the Punjab Assembly and office bearers of major political parties, a mock simulation exercise was conducted on Friday by a seasoned instructor Mohammed Feyyaz over the issue of whether or not

KOLKATA - South Africa will be wary of Ireland's fighting spirit when they seek to nail down a World Cup quarter-final place on Tuesday. Ireland have been the most impressive of the non-Test nations, pulling off a shock win over England and testing favourites India and the West Indies before losing. South Africa, with six points from four games, will be assured of a place in the last eight with a victory while Ireland, with two points from four matches, only have a slim chance of

JUBA - More than 40 militiamen and two soldiers died when rebel militias raided the capital of south Sudan's oil-producing Upper Nile state and took more than 100 children hostage in an orphanage, the southern army said. Renegade fighters attacked Malakal on Saturday in the latest violence to stoke fears for the stability of the south ahead of its independence from the north, due to take place on July 9.
Just short of 99 percent of southern voters chose to declare independence

JUBA - A south Sudanese official accused the north of planning a Darfur-style genocide against the south, in an escalation of rhetoric less than four months ahead of the secession of his oil-producing region. Pagan Amum's accusation came a day after he said his party had suspended talks about preparations for southern independence with the north's National Congress Party, which he said was plotting to overthrow the south's semi-autonomous government.
Southerners overwhelmingly

CHENNAI - Whatever pretensions South Africa had of having overcome their tendency to crack under pressure in big tournaments lay shattered after their demoralising six-run defeat by England in Sunday's thriller. The team did not put a foot wrong against West Indies and the Netherlands but suddenly came unstuck chasing a modest 172-run target. Their brittle middle and lower order batting was exposed in the process and the result threw open Group B. In the post-match press conference,

BASRA - A roadside bomb killed six people and wounded 12 aboard a bus in Iraq's southern port city of Basra on Sunday, a provincial official said. The blast targeted a passing US military convoy but instead struck the bus and wrecked it, the head of Basra provincial council's security committee, Ali al-Ghanimi, said. Women and children were among the casualties of the 10:00 am (0700 GMT) attack near a train station in the al-Maakal district of north Basra, Ghanimi said, but it was

SEOUL - South Korea's leader warned troops on Friday to guard against North Korea's "reckless" provocations as a new dispute erupted over four defectors from the communist state. President Lee Myung-Bak stressed the need for separate branches of the military to work together to counter the threat from the North's special warfare forces, which Seoul says number 200,000.
"Through reckless military provocations, they (the North) are continuing to threaten peace," he told a

MOHALI - In no mood to brook any Dutch mischief, title aspirants South Africa steamrolled the Netherlands by 231 runs in Thursday's World Cup match to top Group B. If Ireland's shock victory against England on Wednesday had rekindled Dutch hopes of pulling off a similar upset, Graeme Smith and his men ruthlessly snuffed them out. To begin with, South Africa rode the marathon 221-run third wicket stand between Hashim Amla (113) and AB de Villiers (134) and JP Duminy's (40) subsequent

MOHALI - South Africa will not lower their guard against the Netherlands as they look to build on a good start to their World Cup bid, coach Corrie van Zyl said Wednesday. The Proteas thumped the West Indies by seven wickets in their opening Group B match in New Delhi last week and want to keep up their momentum.
"We want to win the game and that's very important for us. We want to see our combinations are right going forward," said the South African coach. Van Zyl said South

JUBA - Renegade militia fighters clashed with south Sudan's army for a second time in three weeks, both sides said, reigniting fears for the stability of the oil-producing region in the countdown to its independence. Rebel leader George Athor told Reuters just short of 100 people died in the latest fighting on Sunday in the south's Jonglei state - where France's Total oil giant is due to start exploring.
The south's army said fighting continued on Monday but added Athor's death

SEOUL - South Korea will start carbon emission trading from January 1 of 2015, local media said on Saturday quoting senior government officials, while industry still strongly opposes the plan. A presidential secretary told Reuters this month South Korea, OECD's fastest-growing carbon polluter, would start cap-and-trade between 2013 and 2015 after strong opposition from industry to the government's initial plan to start in 2013.
Powerful export-led conglomerates in Asia's

SEOUL - North Korea threatened "all-out war" in response to exercises by South Korean and US troops due to start Monday and told Seoul to stop cross-border propaganda, upping the rhetoric against its arch rivals. Pyongyang would respond to the upcoming drill, with "unprecedented all-out counteraction" that would turn the South's capital Seoul into a sea of flames, the Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.
"The army and people of the DPRK will return bolstered nuclear deterrent